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Will Barnet the 100 year old US artist renowned for his dream like figurative human and animal paintings and watercolors depicting daily life, has been honored by being named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by French authorities. Barnet’s body of works including drawings and prints are recognized worldwide for his original style. Barnet is a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters, and has been the recipient of numerous awards including being the first Artist’s Lifetime Achievement Award Medal given by the National Academy of Design. The French government’s guidelines for being named a Chevalier state the recipient must respect French civil law, and must have ’significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance’, although foreign persons can be admitted into the Order. Barnet had been honored earlier by the French National Academy Museum with an exhibition of his works.

Kim Dotcom known as Kim Tim Jim Vestor the 38 year old German-Finnish computer programmer and IT businessman and founder of Megupload has been denied bail following his arrest in New Zealand. Megauplad an international, multi-language hosting website based in Hong Kong, is accused by US authorities of copyright infringement and money-laundering. Dotcom faces an extradition hearing to the US and authorities have successfully argued that he is an extreme flight risk and may re-offend. Dotcom’s legal defense argued that he posed no threat of absconding and denies any criminal wrongdoing, stating his passports had been seized, his assets frozen and was cooperating with authorities. The prosecution alleges he is “at the extreme end of the scale” having access to other funds and had multiple identities along with a history of flight from criminal proceedings. Dotcom has been remanded in custody until late February when the US Justice Department’s extradition application will be heard by the court.

Clifford D “Cliff” Schecter the 30 year old US political writer with a reputation as a pugnacious proponent of progressive politics and policies, has published an article reviewing the political satire of the Stephen Colbert SuperPAC. In the article Schecter writes “Political satire … has played an important role in shaping political thought throughout the ages… That is why what Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are doing with their “Super PAC“… a public service at this point in our country’s democratic experiment… running ads… through Colbert’s Super PAC, Americans For A Better Tomorrow-Tomorrow, using every device possible – short of playing flash-card memory games… to show how unbelievably absurd our whole system has become… They have exploited the very same loophole used by Richy Richs – such as the infamous clean-air hating Koch Brothers… to give large and unregulated sums of money, or speech, to candidates… as Colbert himself said: “With your help – and with possibly the help of some outside group that I am not coordinating with – we can explore taking this country back.”

Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona the 45 year old French former international footballer and current film actor affectionately nicknamed “King Eric”, has declared he will be a candidate in the 2012 French presidential election. Cantona has written to the mayors throughout France to gain the 500 signatures required to campaign for election, with his primary aim to give social housing a priority in the campaign, with support to homeless charities. Cantona had previously in 2010 called for a social revolution with a run on the major retail banks, encouraging bank customers to withdraw their funds in protest at the global financial crisis. Cantona’s call was labeled irresponsible and misguided, and his call was not taken up after condemnation from politicians and bankers due to the potentially disastrous outcomes if pursued. In the letter to the French mayors, Cantona stated he is “a citizen very much aware of our times” and he needed to speak out “at a time when our country faces difficult choices”.

Jacob “Jack” J. Lew the 56 year old US Director of the White House Management and Budget recently was appointed the White House Chief of Staff after the resignation of William ‘Bill’ Daley. In an article published by Luke Johnson, Johnson describes how “As the White House’s budget director, Lew has received praise for working with Republicans, even from one of Obama’s harshest critics, “No one was more prepared and more in tune with the numbers than Jack Lew,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) … “He was always very polite and respectful in his tone and someone who I can tell is very committed to his principles.” Lew also previously served as Deputy Director and then Director of Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton Administration from 1995 to 2001. “…in 2008, he served as chief operating officer of Citigroup Alternative Investments, investing in a hedge fund that bet on the housing market to collapse… From 2009 to 2010, Lewworked for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as deputy secretary for management and resources.”

Matthew Yglesias the 30 year old US political blogger states in an article published regarding the attempted introduction of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), that “SOPA isn’t just an overly intrusive way to solve a problem, it’s a “solution” to a problem that’s not a problem.” In the article, Yglesias claims “Much of the debate about SOPA and PIPA has thus far centered around the entertainment industry’s absurdly inflated claims about the economic harm of copyright infringement … the American consumer has never been better-entertained than she is today. The same digital frontier that’s created the piracy pseudo-problem has created whole new companies and made it infinitely easier for small operations to distribute their products. Digital technology has reduced the price we pay for new works and made them cheaper to create… The American economy has plenty of problems, but lack of adequate entertainment options is not on the list.”

Yousuf Raza Gilani the 59 year old current Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is under increasing pressure from the country’s courts and military elites over the “Memogate” petition currently before the Supreme Court. In an article published by Asad Hashim, Hashim states “Everything is coming to a head for the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). It is faced with a judiciary that has seemingly lost patience with its government, a vocal opposition clamoring for early parliamentary elections, a growing civilian-military divide, and a relationship with Washington that blows more cold than hot… a case before the [Supreme] court… alleged that a secret memorandum was written by Hussain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, in which the US was asked for its aid in averting a possible military coup in the aftermath of the US raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden… the Pakistani government allegedly agreed to re-tool its national security establishment in line with US policy, in exchange for US support.”

Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa the 75 year old Peruvian-Spanish writer, essayist and Nobel Prize laureate has been invited by the Spanish government to head up the leading Spanish language and culture institute. The Cervantes Institute has responsibilities for promotion of Spanish Culture throughout the world though its seventy seven locations in forty four countries. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, extended the invitation for Llosa to take on the new role as president of the institution, and has not set a deadline at this stage for his acceptance. The role as president is a non-executive role, with the day to day operations of the institute’s centers undertaken by an executive board. Llosa’s rise to fame occurred in the 1960’s with several high profile novels across an array of genres including comedies, mysteries, historical, criticism and political; winning the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature with his works ‘Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter’ and ’Death in the Andes’.

Jonathan Hafetz the US professor of Law and civil libertarian renowned for his volunteer service assisting Guantanamo captives held by the US Justice department at the Naval base, has published an article on Aljazeera marking the 10th anniversary of when the first prisoners arrived at the base. Hafetz states, “While its approach to terrorism has evolved, the United States’ failure to close Guantanamo shows how far it still has to go if it wishes to develop a rights-respecting national security policy… The United States’ failure to close Guantanamo is the result of several factors, including lack of leadership by the executive, opposition by Congress, and acquiescence by the courts. Ultimately, all three branches of government bear responsibility, along with the American people themselves, who continue to tolerate Guantanamo’s existence… Not only does the prison remain open, but the United States is further from closing it now than at any time in the past… Guantanamo remains a place where individuals – all citizens of other countries – are given fewer rights and protections against unlawful imprisonment.”

Daanish Faruqi a research fellow based in Doha, recently edited a book ‘From Camp David to Cast Lead: Essays on Israel, Palestine, and the Future of the Peace Process’. Farugi in an article released on Aljazeera discusses one of the book’s essays written by Professor Hamid Dabashi. Farugi concludes that “Art’s role … is to imagine the emancipatory politics of our impossibilities… The artists of the Arab Spring are tasked with simply igniting a spark, of reinjecting the radical imagination into Arab society, through envisioning the utopian possibility of hope and a better life undergirded by the basic dignity of the Arab people as non-negotiable and sacrosanct. Their aesthetic impulses must lead our revolutionary politics … as signposts, not as overt political manifestos. Only under this rubric can the legions of brave Arab artists, painters and sculptors inspired by the Arab Spring truly make sense as purveyors of the region’s renewed collective consciousness…”

Sheldon Gary Adelson the 78 year old US casino and hotel magnate has been identified as a considerable contributor to a SuperPAC (Political Action Committee). The PAC assisting the presidential campaign of Newt Gingrich, according to Kenneth Vogel of Politico, received a $US5mil contribution from Adelson, “and has considered giving much more”. Vogel states, “The propping up of super PACs by Adelson [and others] has some establishment Republicans grumbling privately that the men may be hurting the party by setting the stage for a long and damaging primary battle that won’t block Romney from winning the nomination but will leave him limping into a general election tilt… [Adelson stated] that his political efforts were motivated by his support for Gingrich, rather than antipathy toward any other candidate. “I’m a guy who practices loyalty,” said Adelson … worth upward of $20 billion … who’s been friendly with Gingrich since the mid-1990s, when the former Georgia congressman was speaker of the House.”

Oliviero Toscani the 69 year old Italian Photographer renowned for his controversial advertising campaigns of well known Italian brands, has again sort controversy with the release of a calendar. Toscani’s calendar features twelve close up images of penises for an advertising campaign. The consortium that procured Toscani’s services, Vera Pelle Italiana is a group of companies that manufacture tanned leather products. The controversy follows a similar campaign last year for the same consortium, with a calendar depicting close up images of female crutches. That calendar incurred the wrath of both feminist groups and the advertising watchdog, claiming the images were offense to the dignity of women. Other campaigns conducted by Toscani included men participating in homosexual behavior for a clothing brand, an AIDS awareness campaign with images depicting a dying man in hospital surrounded by grieving relatives, and another awareness campaign with gruesome images of an emaciated anorexia suffer. This latest calendar launch was attended by a well known Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi.

Arthur P. J. Mol the 51 year old Netherlands Professor of environmental policy speaks of the growing environmental threat the new Chinese middle class pose for our planet earth. In an article released on Aljazeera, Mol states “this new middle class represents China as a consumer society. Its purchasing power brings cars, durable electric and electronic equipment, (inter)national tourism travellings, larger houses and a meat-based diet within reach of the masses… [however with] green electricity, clean cars, a ban on plastic bags, strong punishments in food scandals: China’s consumption is becoming more sustainable, although it has a long way to go. But compared with China’s acceleration, the US seems to stand still. The Chinese middle class will become the environmental vanguard, because it is backed by the state. Don’t underestimate the Chinese middle class: they are coming, they demand their share in consumption – but they also form a state-backed driver of sustainability.”

William Ernest “Bill” McKibben the US Environmentalist and founder of the Global Climate Campaign 350.org has released an article on Aljazeera stating that “We need to say, loud and clear: “Sorry. Time to give it back”, reflecting on the corporate takeover of congress. In the article McKibben states, “we may have to change the Constitution, as we’ve done 27 times before. This time, we’d need to specify that corporations aren’t people, that money isn’t speech …The Occupy movement opened the door to this sort of change by reminding us all that the system is rigged, that its outcomes are unfair… later this month, when rallies … mark the second anniversary of the Citizens United decision … where the Supreme Court ruled that corporations had the right to spend whatever they wanted on campaigns. To me, that decision was, in essence, corporate America saying, “We’re not going to bother pretending any more. This country belongs to us”.

Anri Sala the 37 year old Albanian artist renowned for his favored medium in video has been announced as a representative for France at the 2013 Venice Biennale. Sala is currently based in Paris, represented by Hauser & Wirth Gallery along with the Marian Goodman Gallery. Sala studied video production at the French Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and film direction in Le Fresnoy-Studio National des Arts Contemporains, Tourcoing. Sala currently has a video installation titled ‘Dammi i colori’ (Give me the colors) on display at the London Tate Modern. The installation explores the colour transformation of his hometown Tirana in 2003. The installation includes a discussion between Sala and a personal friend Edi Rama, the Mayor of Tirana. Daniel Birnbaum wrote in Artforum in 2004 that Sala “is an expert in creating mesmerizing forms of repetition that produce strange states of mind, but he never goes so far as to cause pain.”

Stephen Tyrone Colbert the 47 year old USpolitical satirist comedian has announced he will form an “exploratory committee for president of the United States of South Carolina. I’m doin’ it!”, in the upcoming South Carolina GOP presidential primary, his home state. Colbert hosts the Comedy Central’s satirical news show The Colbert Report where Colbert assumes the identity of a conservative political character. A GOP voter poll of 1112 voters taken for the South Carolina primary placed Colbert with a 5% vote in spite of not even being on the ballot, ahead of other formal candidates. Colbert on his show addressed the legal issue of his SuperPAC (Political Action Committee). With assistance of his lawyer, Colbert handed control of the PAC over to Jon Stewart, changing its name to ‘Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC’, highlighting the absurdity of campaign funding laws that govern election spending.

Eric Steven Lander the 54 year old US Professor of Biology at MIT and co-chair of the US president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, has been profiled by Gina Kolata for the New York Times. Kolata states in the article, “His Ph.D. is in pure mathematics, in a subfield so esoteric and specialized that even if someone gets a great result, it can be appreciated by only a few dozen people in the entire world. But he left that world behind and, with no formal training, entered another: the world of molecular biology, medicine and genomics… he heads a biology empire and raises money from billionaires. He also teaches freshman biology (a course he never took) at M.I.T., advises President Obama on science and runs a lab… To him, biography is something of a confection: “You live your life prospectively and tell your story retrospectively, so it looks like everything is converging.”

Imran Khan Niazi the 59 year old Pakistani politician and former cricketer has announced he will be running for president of Pakistan at the next national election. In an article Professor Akbar Ahmed the former Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland questions which direction Khan would take Pakistan “After a decade as ally in the US’ “War on Terror” and the devastating social, political and economic impact…The hopes of a nation now rest on one man. Pakistan history is replete with examples of Pakistanis depending entirely on the savior figure only to be disappointed afterwards. Even Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, who remains so revered in Pakistan, died one year after creating the country. … There are already danger-signs as some old faces who have done the rounds with different parties have now jumped onto Imran’s bandwagon. The balance between making deals in order to chip away at the power base … and maintaining his integrity will be crucial.

Brian Edward Cox the 43 year old UK particle physicist and best known to the public as the presenter of science programs for the UK broadcaster BBC, has been credited in an article by Steve Connor with exhibiting a ‘Brian Cox effect’. Connor states “It was the year we saw an unprecedented turnaround in the popularity of science – especially the harder physical sciences – among A-level students. Exam boards marveled at the increase in the number of teenagers who want to study the notoriously difficult subjects of physics and maths. There could be only one explanation: the Brian Cox effect. With his floppy hair, youthful smile and telegenic good looks, Professor Brian Cox is living proof that you don’t need to be bald with bad teeth to be a boffin. His [2nd tv series] … drew in a young audience, demonstrating that the traditionally nerdy subject of physics is actually quite cool.

Yayoi Kusama the 82 year old Japanese conceptual artist renowned for her obsessive repetition of dots and patterns has a major solo exhibition titled ‘Look Now, See Forever’ at the Queensland GOMA. One of the pieces titled The obliteration room 2011, is an interactive project where a large furnished room of stark white is in the process of being covered with various size primary coloured polka dots, applied by visitors (mostly children). The result according to Artinfo is “a hypnotizing variety of colors and patterns taking over the room like highly contagious rainbow chicken pox. The bare white walls, couch, tables, and lamps play up the intense hues of the stickers, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes… crowded groups of dots so dense that the wall isn’t even visible beneath.”

Carmen Tisch a 36 year old US woman has been arrested for damaging a canvas painting by the now deceased abstract expressionist painter Clyfford Still born in North Dakota 1904. Tisch is accused of pulling down her pants, sliding her buttocks against the painting surface and attempting to urinate onto the works. Tisch allegedly while intoxicated punched and scratched the painting valued at $US30mil. A spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office, stated the oil-on-canvas called 1957-J no.2, was on display at the recently opened Clyfford Still museum in Denver. Tisch has been charged with felony criminal mischief and is held on a $US20k bond pending a formal hearing. “It doesn’t appear she urinated on the painting or that the urine damaged it, so she’s not being charged with that,” stated the spokesperson, although tests are to be conducted to determine if any urine damage has occurred.

Santiago Zabala the 36 year old Professor at the Spanish University of Barcelona discusses the similarities of the Occupy Movement and the Barcelona protests in terms of “Karl Marx’s words of 1845: “Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it”. How can these words still be valid today? Is there a philosophy for these protesters?” Zabala states there is, “In the midst of our global economic crisis, which sees financial centres such as Wall Street occupied by protesters who call for change, Marx’s statement points out that we are still framed within the thought system that sustains the crisis, but it also demands a change in thought, that is, a philosophy for these same protesters.This philosophy is available and is called hermeneutics, the philosophy of interpretation… one of the few philosophies that reflects the pluralism of our postmodern societies because, like truly democratic procedures, it includes and allows structural changes to take place every time citizens demand them.”

Hamada Zahawi an Iraqi-American lawyer and one of the Lead speaker Coaches at the TEDxBaghdad 2011 described how his team “flew in from abroad … carried an unwavering, against-all-odds longing to reconcile their own identity and discover the country only our parents had lived. Each of us was driven by dreams of a better Iraq, by an inexplicable connection to a place we barely knew, but somehow loved so deeply… TEDxBaghdad focused on this faith: how we Iraqis can harness our potential to ensure an unforgettable event. Dismissing politics, religion and sectarian divisions, we chose instead to celebrate our identity, our heritage, our accomplishments, from architecture to medicine, from education to entrepreneurship. Seventeen speakers hailing from all over Iraq shared their ideas and stories of improbable triumph in the face of decades-old hardship and instability.”

Václav Havel the 75 year old Czech playwright, poet, dissident and former President of the Czech Republic who recently died, has been honored in an article published by Mark LeVine. Levine recalls Havel’s role in the Velvet Revolution and connection to the Arab Spring, “as a model for understanding, or engaging in, the present revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa … While it looks increasingly dark in Egypt, Syria and other Arab countries today, if the protesters in the streets can solidify their co-ordination with civil society and, as was so crucial in Poland, involve religious leaders in fighting truly to take down the system rather than merely get a large piece of it for themselves, there is little doubt that in a very short period of time the world’s newest generation of revolutionaries will manage to secure the freedom for which they are fighting…”

Tom Engelhardt the creator of tomdispatch .com and co-founder of the American Empire Project has published an article that focuses the lens on the election life cycle of candidates, “Now, the president himself essentially begins his campaign for a second term almost as soon as he enters the Oval Office.” Engelhardt plays on the word ‘Election’, “Sometimes words outlive their usefulness. Sometimes the gap between changing reality and the names we’ve given it grows so wide that they empty of all meaning or retain older meanings that only confuse us. ‘Election’, ‘presidential election campaign’, and ‘democracy’ all seem like obvious candidates for name-change … You vote for the president to spend some part of 20 per cent of his days raising money for his own future from the incredibly wealthy … and this is what he’s been doing 12 to 24 months before the election is scheduled to happen.”

Maung Thura the 50 year old Myanmar comedian poet and performer known as Zarganar “tweezers”, goaled and tortured by the Myanmar military authorities has been released and allowed to leave the country. Speaking from Bangkok on his arrival, Zarganar renowned for his humour stated “When I saw the airplane I got a shock, when I saw the airport I got a shock, when I saw the big building and big bridge and good road I got a shock … Our young people in my country, daily they worry… Their faces are full of anxieties.” Zarganar was released by the junta as part of prisoner amnesty in the lead up to formation of civilian government. Zarganar had organized aid-related activities and been sentenced to 59 years imprisonment as a result, although not his first time, having been arrested for joining the 1988 student-led uprising against the military dictatorship, imprisoned tortured and released the following year.

Jeff Smith a US former advertising professional and member of the Occupy Wall Street press team has released an article on the vast wealth gap between Americans and their representatives. Smith states “It’s always been about the money. Occupy Wall Street chose to set up its 24-hour outpost of political dissent on the doorstep of the finance industry primarily to underscore the simple fact that money has corrupted our political process so completely that the seat of power in the U.S. isn’t even in Washington, D.C. any more … OWS has focused on the concept of legalized bribery, as the continually rising cost of a political campaign … largely subsidized by wealthy donors, corporations and special interests, in return for legislation that favors their interests … The gap between the Beltway and the economic realities of most Americans can be found in the common Washington framing of households with an annual income of $250,000—a figure achieved by just the top 1.5 percent—as “middle class.”

Noah Kravitz known online as ‘Kravy Krav’ and more recently by his twitter handle of @Phonedog_Noah before his current @NoahKravitz, is being sued by his former employer over the following list on his twitter account. Kravitz’s former employer ‘Phonedog’ claim the twitter list is equivalent to a client contact list and is demanding $2.50 for each of the 17000 followers to the account during his period of employment, a sum of $340,000. Turns out that when Kravitz left his employer amicably, he was to receive backpay and a percentage of advertising sales revenue. When this failed to eventuate, Kravitz sued and was countersued for the twitter account value, although it’s a mystery where the value of $2.50 has been derived. The suit has implications for many users who mix work and social through their social media accounts.

Carol Wells the US Exec.Director of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics has applauded the preservation of an Occupy Movement mural in Los Angeles stating “It’s site specific to L.A … It documents L.A.’s part in an international movement.” Marissa Gluck in an article she published states that “Though the history of Occupy Wall Street is still being written … Los Angeles is taking the unusual step of organizing a preservation process for a major mural created in its encampment. It is the first major city to do so … The massive four-sided mural, painted on plywood erected to protect a park fountain from vandalism … isn’t just a visual depiction of the protesters’ perspective. Its physical creation echoes the movement as well, with multiple anonymous artists contributing to the work … One side of the mural depicts the Federal Reserve as a monstrous octopus, ravenously grabbing cash from foreclosed homes, while exhorting viewers to “Take the Power Back.”

Helen Frankenthaler the 83 year old US abstract expressionist painter renowned for her contribution to postwar US painting has died. Frankenthaler was championed by the influential art and literary critic Clement Greenberg, who included her in his 1964 curated Post-Painterly Abstract exhibition. The exhibition introduced her to the New York art scene and abstract expressionism, in which she was to play a pivotal role. Frankenthaler stated “A really good picture looks as if it’s happened at once. It’s an immediate image. For my own work … very often it takes ten of those over-labored efforts to produce one really beautiful wrist motion that is synchronized with your head and heart, and you have it, and therefore it looks as if it were born in a minute.” Frankenthaler has not been a fan of all critics, some seeing it as thin in substance, uncontrolled and too rich in colour.

Chip Ward the US political activist poses the question that “After Occupy Wall Street, isn’t it time for Occupy Earth? … Degrading the planet’s operating systems to bolster the bottom line is foolish and reckless. It hurts us all. No less important, it’s unfair. The 1 per cent profit, while the rest of us cough and cope … Nature’s 99 per cent is an amazingly diverse community of species. They feed and share and recycle within a web of relationships so dynamic and complex that we have yet to fathom how it all fits together … we are only beginning to understand thresholds and feedback loops, the way the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. But we at least know that the parts matter deeply and that, before we even fully understand them, we’re losing them at an accelerating rate. Forests are dying, fisheries are going, extinction is on steroids”.

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Mohamed Ghilan the Saudi Arabia born Canadian Muslim who writes articles relating to Islamic topics, theology, and philosophy of religion and science, has published an article on Aljareera titled ‘To Sharia or not to Sharia: The question of Islamopolitics’ in which he states “The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life recently released their […]